KABUL: At least 90 people were killed and hundreds wounded on Wednesday when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul’s diplomatic quarter, bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital just days into the holy fasting month of Ramadhan.
Bloodied corpses littered the scene and a huge cloud of smoke rose from the highly-fortified area which houses foreign embassies, after the rush-hour attack tore a massive crater in the ground and blew out windows several miles away.
No group has so far claimed the powerful blast, which officials said was caused by 1,500 kg of explosives hidden inside a sewage tanker, in what appeared to be a major intelligence failure.
Rescue workers were digging bodies from the rubble hours after the explosion, many of them disfigured and charred, as anguished residents searched for missing relatives.
Dozens of mangled and upturned cars choked the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls scrambled to safety.
The attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where the Nato-backed military, beset by soaring casualties and desertions, is struggling to beat back insurgents.
“In this powerful attack 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children,” said the government’s media centre, with health officials warning the toll could climb further.
President Ashraf Ghani slammed the attack as a “war crime”.
Afghanistan’s intelligence agency blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network for the attack.
The Taliban — currently in the midst of their annual “spring offensive” — denied they were involved, while strongly condemning the blast.
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